Ahmed : An Overview of Arsenic Removal Technologies in Bangladesh and India

251

An Overview of Arsenic Removal Technologies

in Bangladesh and India
M. Feroze Ahmed
Department of Civil Engineering
Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

Abstract
In the context of prevalence of high concentrations of arsenic in tubewell water,
a wide range technologies has been tried for the removal of arsenic from
drinking water. The most common technologies utilized the conventional
processes of oxidation, co-precipitation and adsorption onto coagulated flocs,
adsorption onto sorptive media, ion exchange and membrane techniques for
arsenic removal. The conventional technologies have been scaled down to meet
the requirements of households and communities and suit the rural environment.
Some technologies utilized indigenous materials for arsenic removal. This paper
presents a short review of the technologies used for arsenic removal in
Bangladesh and India.

INTRODUCTION
Groundwater is available in shallow aquifers in adequate quantity in the flood
plains for development tubewell based water supply for scattered rural
population.
Bangladesh and West Bengal in India achieved remarkable
successes by providing drinking water at low-cost to the rural population through
sinking of shallow tubewells in flood plain aquifers. Unfortunately arsenic
contamination of shallow tubewell water in excess of acceptable limit has
become a major public health problem in both the countries. Thousands of
people have already shown the symptoms of arsenic poisoning and several

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Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water

millions are at risk of arsenic contamination from drinking tubewell water.

Arsenic toxicity has no known effective medicine for treatment, but drinking of
arsenic free water can help the arsenic affected people to get rid of the symptoms
of arsenic toxicity. Hence, provision of arsenic free water is urgently needed to
mitigate arsenic toxicity and protection of health and well being of rural people
living in acute arsenic problem areas of Bangladesh and India. The alternative
options available for water supply in the arsenic affected areas include arsenic
avoidance and treatment of arsenic contaminated ground water. Treatment of
surface waters by low-cost methods, rain water harvesting and water from deep
aquifers would be potential sources of water supply to avoid arsenic ingestion
through shallow tubewell water. The use of alternative sources will require a
major technological shift in water supply. Treatment of arsenic contaminated
well water is an alternative option to make use of a huge number of tubewells
likely to be declared abandoned for yielding water with high arsenic content.
There are several methods available for removal of arsenic from water in
large conventional treatment plants. The most commonly used technologies
include oxidation, co-precipitation and adsorption onto coagulated flocs, lime
treatment, adsorption onto sorptive media, ion exchange resin and membrane
techniques (Cheng et al., 1994; Hering et al., 1996, 1997; Kartinen and Martin,
1995; Shen, 1973; Joshi and Chaudhuri, 1996). A detailed review of arsenic
removal technologies is presented by Sorg and Logsdon (1978). Jackel (1994)
has documented several advances in arsenic removal technologies. In view of
the lowering the drinking water standards by USEPA, a review of arsenic
removal technologies was made to consider the economic factors involved in
implementing lower drinking water standards for arsenic ( Chen et al., 1999).
Many of the arsenic removal technologies have been discussed in details in
AWWA reference book ( Pontious, 1990). A comprehensive review of low-cost,
well-water treatment technologies for arsenic removal with the list of companies
and organizations involved in arsenic removal technologies has been compiled by
Murcott (2000) with contact detail.
Some of these technologies can be reduced in scale and conveniently be
applied at household and community levels for the removal of arsenic from
contaminated tubewell water. During the last 2-3 years many small scale arsenic
removal technologies have been developed, field tested and used under action
research programs in Bangladesh and India. A short review of these technologies
is intended to update the technological development in arsenic removal,
understand the problems, prospects and limitations of different treatment
processes and delineate the areas of further improvement for successful
implementation and adaptation of technologies to rural conditions

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OXIDATION
Arsenic is present in groundwater in As(III) and As(V) forms in different
proportions. Most treatment methods are effective in removing arsenic in
pentavalent form and hence include an oxidation step as preteatment to convert
arsenite to arsenate. Arsenite can be oxidized by oxygen, ozone, free chlorine,
hypochlorite, permanganate, hydrogen peroxide and fulton's reagent but
Atmospheric oxygen, hypochloride and permanganate are commonly used for
oxidation in developing countries:
H3AsO3 + O2
= H2AsO4- + 2 H +
H3AsO3 + HClO = HAsO4-- + Cl - + 3H+
3H3AsO3 + 2KMnO4 = 3HAsO4- - + 2MnO2+ + 2K+ + 4H+ + H2O

(1)
(2)
(3)

Air oxidation of arsenic is very slow and can take weeks for oxidation
(Pierce and Moore, 1982) but chemicals like chlorine and permanganate can
rapidly oxidize arsenite to arsenate under wide range of conditions.
Passive Sedimentation
Passive sedimentation received considerable attention because of rural people's
habit of drinking stored water from pitchers. Oxidation of water during collection
and subsequent storage in houses may cause a reduction in arsenic concentration
in stored water (Bashi Pani). Experiments conducted in Bangladesh showed zero
to high reduction in arsenic content by passive sedimentation. Arsenic reduction
by plain sedimentation appears to be dependent on water quality particularly the
presence of precipitating iron in water. Ahmed et al.(2000) showed that more
than 50% reduction in arsenic content is possible by sedimentation of tubewell
water containing 380-480 mg/L of alkalinity as CaCO3 and 8-12 mg/L of iron but
cannot be relied to reduce arsenic to desired level. Most studies showed a
reduction of zero to 25% of the initial concentration of arsenic in groundwater. In
rapid assessment of technologies passive sedimentation failed to reduce arsenic
to the desired level of 50 g/L in any well(BAMWSP, DFID, WaterAid , 2001).
In-situ Oxidation
In-situ oxidation of arsenic and iron in the aquifer has been tried under DPHEDanida Arsenic Mitigation Pilot Project. The aerated tubewell water is stored in
a tank and released back into the aquifers through the tubewell by opening a
valve in a pipe connecting the water tank to the tubewell pipe under the pump
head. The dissolved oxygen in water oxidizes arsenite to less mobile arsenate and
also the ferrous iron in the aquifer to ferric iron, resulting a reduction in arsenic
content in tubewell water. The possible reactions of arsenate to ferric hydroxide
are shown in Equations 7 to 8. Experimental results show that arsenic in the

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Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water

tubewell water following in-situ oxidation is reduced to about half due to

underground precipitation and adsorption on ferric iron.
Solar Oxidation
SORAS is a simple method of solar oxidation of arsenic in transparent bottles to
reduce arsenic content of drinking water ( Wegelin et al., 2000). Ultraviolet
radiation can catalyze the process of oxidation of arsenite in presence of other
oxidants like oxygen ( Young, 1996). Experiments in Bangladesh show that the
process on average can reduce arsenic content of water to about one-third.

CO-PRECIPITATION AND ADSORPTION PROCESSES

Water treatment with coagulants such as aluminium alum, Al2(SO4)3.18H2O,
ferric chloride , FeCl3 and ferric sulfate Fe2(SO4)3.7H2O are effective in removing
arsenic from water. Ferric salts have been found to be more effective in
removing arsenic than alum on a weight basis and effective over a wider range of
pH. In both cases pentavalent arsenic can be more effectively removed than
trivalent arsenic.
In the coagulation-flocculation process aluminium sulfate, or ferric chloride,
or ferric sulfate is added and dissolved in water under efficient stirring for one to
few minutes. Aluminium or ferric hydroxide micro-flocs are formed rapidly. The
water is then gently stirred for few minutes for agglomeration of micro-flocs into
larger easily settable flocs. During this flocculation process all kinds of microparticles and negatively charged ions are attached to the flocs by electrostatic
attachment. Arsenic is also adsorbed onto coagualted flocs. As trivalent arsenic
occurs in non-ionized form, it is not subject to significant removal. Oxidation of
As(III) to As(V) is thus required as a pretreatment for efficient removal. This can
be achieved by addition of bleaching powder (chlorine) or potassium
permanganate as shown in Equations 2 and 3. The possible chemical equations of
alum coagulation are as follows:
Alum dissolution:
Al2(SO4)3.18H2O

= 2Al+++ + 3SO4++ + 18H2O

(4)

Aluminium precipitation(acidic):
2Al+++ + 6H2O = 2Al(OH)3 + 6H+

(5)

Co-precipitation ( Non-stoichiometric, non-defined product):

H2AsO4- + Al(OH)3 = Al-As (complex) + Other Products

(6)

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255

Arsenic adsorbed on aluminiun hydroxide focs as Al-As complex is removed

by sedimentation. Filtration may be required to ensure complete removal of all
flocs. Similar reactions take place in case of ferric chloride and ferric sulfate with
the formation of Fe-As complex as end product which is removed by the process
of sedimentation and filtration.
The possible reactions of arsenate with hydrous iron oxide are shown below
where [FeOHo] represents oxide surface site(Mok and Wai, 1994; Hering et al.,
1996).
Fe(OH)3 (s) + H3AsO4 FeAsO4.2H2O + H2O
FeOHo + AsO43- + 3 H+ FeH2AsO4 + H2O
FeOHo + AsO43- + 2 H+ FeHAsO4- + H2O

(7)
(8)
(9)

Immobilization of arsenic by hydrous iron oxide, as shown in Eqs. 7 to 9,

requires oxidation of arsenic species into As(V) form for higher efficiency.
Arsenic removal is dependent on pH. In alum coagulation, the removal is most
effective in the pH range 7.2-7.5 and in iron coagulation, efficient removal is
achieved in a wider pH range usually between 6.0 and 8.5 (Ahmed and Raham,
2000).
Bucket Treatment Unit
The Bucket Treatment Unit (BTU), developed by DPHE-Danida Project is based
on the principles of coagulation, co-precipitation and adsorption processes. It
consists of two buckets, each 20 liter capacity, placed one above the other.
Chemicals are mixed manually with arsenic contaminated water in the upper red
bucket by vigorous stirring with a wooden stick for 30 to 60 seconds and then
flocculated by gentle stirring for about 90 second. The mixed water is then
allowed to settle for 1- 2 hours. The water from the top red bucket is then
allowed to flow into the lower green bucket via plastic pipe and a sand filter
installed in the lower bucket. The flow is initiated by opening a valve fitted
slightly above the bottom of the red bucket to avoid inflow of settled sludge in
the upper bucket. The lower green bucket is practically a treated water container.
The DPHE-Danida project in Bangladesh distributed several thousands BTU
units in rural areas of Bangladesh. These units are based on chemical doses of
200 mg/L aluminum sulfate and 2 mg/L of potassium permanganate supplied in
crushed powder form. The units were reported to have very good performance in
arsenic removal in both field and laboratory conditions ( Sarkar et al., 2000 and
Kohnhorst and Paul, 2000). Extensive study of DPHE-Danida BTU under
BAMWSP, DFID, WaterAid (2001) rapid assessment program showed mixed
results. In many cases, the units under rural operating conditions fails to remove
arsenic to the desired level of 0.05 mg/L in Bangladesh. Poor mixing and
variable water quality particularly pH of groundwater in different locations of
Bangladesh appeared to be the cause of poor performance in rapid assessment.

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Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) modified the

BTU and obtained better results by using 100 mg/L of ferric chloride and 1.4
mg/L of potassium permanganate in modified BTU units. The arsenic contents of
treated water were mostly below 20 ppb and never exceeded 37 ppb while
arsenic concentrations of tubewell water varied between 375 to 640 ppb. The
BTU is a promising technology for arsenic removal at household level at low
cost. It can be built by locally available materials and is effective in removing
arsenic if operated properly.
Stevens Institute Technology
This technology also uses two buckets, one to mix chemicals ( reported to be iron
sulphate and calcium hypochloride) supplied in packets and the other to separate
flocs by the processes of sedimentation and filtration. The second bucket has a
second inner bucket with slits on the sides as shown in Figure 1 to help
sedimentation and keeping the filter sand bed in place. The chemicals form
visible large flocs on mixing by stirring with stick. Rapid assessment showed that
the technology was effective in reducing arsenic levels to less than 0.05 mg/L in
case of 80 to 95% of the samples tested(BAMWSP, DFID, WaterAid , 2001).
The sand bed used for filtration is quickly clogged by flocs and requires washing
atleast twice a week.

Chemicals
Mixing
stick

Transfer of chemical
mixed water
Main bucket
Interior bucket
Slits
Outlet with
cloth filter
Filter
sand

Figure 1 : Stevens Institute Technology

Plastic pipe to
deliver treated
water

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BCSIR Filter Unit

Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) has developed
an arsenic removal system, which uses the process of coagulation/coprecipitation with an iron based chemical followed by sand filtration. The unit
did not take part in a comprehensive evaluation process.
Fill and Draw Units
It is a community type treatment unit designed and installed under DPHE-Danida
Arsenic Mitigation Pilot Project. It is 600 L capacity (effective) tank with slightly
tapered bottom for collection and withdraw of settled sludge. The tank is fitted
with a manually operated mixer with flat-blade impellers. The tank is filled with
arsenic contaminated water and required quantity of oxidant and coagulant are
added to the water. The water is then mixed for 30 seconds by rotating the
mixing device at the rate of 60 rpm and left overnight for sedimentation. The
water takes some times to become completely still which helps flocculation. The
floc formation is caused by the hydraulic gradient of the rotating water in the
tank. The settled water is then drawn through a pipe fitted at a level, few inches
above the bottom of the tank and passed through a sand bed and finally collected
through a tap for drinking purpose as shown in Figure 2. The mixing and
flocculation processes in this unit are better controlled to effect higher removal of
arsenic. The experimental units installed by DPHE-Danida project are serving the
clusters of families and educational institutions.

Gear system
Cover
Impeller

Tank

Sludge
withdrawal
pipe

Handle
Filtration
unit
Treated
water

Figure 2 : DPHE-Danida Fill and Draw arsenic removal unit

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Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water

Arsenic Removal Unit Attached to Tubewell

The principles of arsenic removal by alum coagulation, sedimentation and
filtration have been employed in a compact unit for water treatment in the village
level in West Bengal, India. The arsenic removal plant attached to hand tubewell
as shown in Figure 3 has been found effective in removing 90 percent arsenic
from tubewell water having initial arsenic concentration of 300g/L. The
treatment process involves addition of sodium hypochloride (Cl2), and aluminum
alum in diluted form, mixing, flocculation, sedimentation and up flow filtration
in a compact unit.
A - Mixing; B - Flocculation; C - Sedimentation; D - Filtration (Up-flow)
A

D
C

Figure 3 : Arsenic removal plants attached to tubewell ( designed and

constructed in India)

Naturally Occurring Iron

The use of naturally occurring iron precipitates in ground water in Bangladesh is
a promising method of removing arsenic by adsorption. It has been found that
hand tubewell water in 65% of the area in Bangladesh contains iron in excess of
2 mg/L and in many acute iron problem areas, the concentration of dissolved iron
is higher than 15 mg/L. Although no good correlation between concentrations of
iron and arsenic has been derived, iron and arsenic have been found to co-exist in
ground water. Most of the tubewell water samples satisfying Bangladesh
Drinking Water Standard for Iron ( 1 mg/L) also satisfy the standard for Arsenic
(50 g/L). Only about 50% of the samples having iron content 1 - 5 mg/L satisfy
the standard for arsenic while 75% of the samples having iron content > 5 mg/L
are unsafe for having high concentration of arsenic.

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The iron precipitates [Fe(OH)3] formed by oxidation of dissolved iron

[Fe(OH)2] present in groundwater, as discussed above, have the affinity for the
adsorption of arsenic. Only aeration and sedimentation of tubewell water rich in
dissolved iron has been found to remove arsenic. The Iron Removal Plants (IRPs)
in Bangladesh constructed on the principles of aeration, sedimentation and
filtration in a small units have been found to remove arsenic without any added
chemicals. The conventional community type IRPs, depending on the operating
principles, more or less work as Arsenic Removal Plants (ARPs) as well. A study
suggests that As(III) is oxidized to As(V) in the IRPs to facilitate higher
efficiency in arsenic removal in IRPs constructed in Noakhali ( Dahi and Liang,
1998). The Fe-As removal relationship with good correlation in some operating
IRPs has been plotted in Figure 4. Results shows that most IRPs can lower
arsenic content of tubewell water to half to one-fifth of the original
concentrations. The efficiency of these community type Fe-As removal plants
can be increased by increasing the contact time between arsenic species and iron
flocs. Community participation in operation and maintenance in the local level is
absolutely essential for effective use of these plants.

100

Arsenic Removal ,%

90

y = 0.8718x + 0.4547
R2 = 0.6911

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Iron Removal , %

Figure 4: Correlation between Fe and As Removal in Treatment Plants

Some medium scale Fe-As removal plants of capacities 2000-3000 m3/d have
been constructed for water supplies in district towns based on the same principle.
The treatment processes involved in these plants include aeration, sedimentation
and rapid sand filtration with provision for addition of chemical, if required.

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Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water

These plants are working well except that treated water requirement for washing
the filter beds is very high. Operations of small and medium size IRP-cum-ARPs
in Bangladesh suggest that arsenic removal by co-precipitation and adsorption on
natural iron flocs has good potential.
Chemical Packages
In Bangladesh, different types of chemical packages have been distributed in the
form of tea bags, small packets and powder or tablet form for the removal of
arsenic from drinking water. The principles involved in arsenic removal by these
chemicals involve oxidation, sorption and co-precipitation. Application
methodology and efficiency of any of these chemicals have not been fully
optimized by long experimentation. Quality assurance and dose control in rural
condition are extremely difficult. The residuals of added chemicals in water after
treatment can do equal harm. The use of unknown chemicals and patented
process without adequate information should be totally discouraged.

SORPTIVE FILTRATION MEDIA

Several sorptive media have been reported to remove arsenic from water. These
are activated alumina, activated carbon, iron and manganese coated sand,
kaolinite clay, hydrated ferric oxide, activated bauxite, titanium oxide, silicium
oxide and many natural and synthetic media. The efficiency of all some sorptive
media depend on the use of oxidizing agent as aids to sorption of arsenic.
Saturation of media by different contaminants and components of water takes
place at different times of operation depending on the specific sorption affinity of
the medium to the given component. Saturation means that the efficiency in
removing the desired impurities becomes zero.
Activated Alumia
Activated alumia, Al2O3, having good sorptive surface is an effective medium for
arsenic removal. When water passes through a packed column of activated
alumina, the impurities including arsenic present in water are adsorbed on the
surfaces of activated alumina grains. Eventually the column becomes saturated,
first at its upstream zone and later the saturated zone moves downstream towards
the bottom end and finally the column get totally saturated.
Regeneration of saturated alumina is carried out by exposing the medium to
4% caustic soda, NaOH, either in batch or by flow through the column resulting
in a high arsenic contaminated caustic waste water. The residual caustic soda is
then washed out and the medium is neutralized with a 2% solution of sulfuric
acid rinse. During the process about 5-10% alumina is lost and the capacity of the

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regenerated medium is reduced by 30-40%. The activated alumina needs

replacement after 3-4 regeneration. Like coagulation process, pre-chlorination
improves the column capacity dramatically. Some of the activated alumina based
sorptive media used in Bangladesh include:
BUET Activated Alumina
Alcan Enhanced Activated Alumina
ARU of Project Earth Industries Inc.,USA
Apyron Arsenic Treatment Unit
The BUET and Alcan activated alumina have been extensively tested in field
condition in different areas of Bangladesh under rapid assessment and found very
effective in arsenic removal (BAMWSP, DFID, WaterAid , 2001). The Arsenic
Removal Units (ARUs) of Project Earth Industries Inc. (USA) used hybrid
aluminas and composite metal oxides as adsorption media and were able to treat
200-500 Bed Volume(BV) of water containing 550 g/L of arsenic and 14 mg/L
of iron ( Ahmed et al., 2000). The Apyron Technologies Inc. (ATI) also uses
inorganic granular metal oxide based media that can selectively remove As(III)
and As(V) from water. The Aqua-BindTM arsenic media used by ATI consist of
non-hazardous aluminium oxide and manganese oxide for cost-effective removal
of arsenic. The proponents claimed that the units installed in India and
Bangladesh consistently reduced arsenic to less than 10g/L.
Granular Ferric Hydroxide
M/S Pal Trockner(P) Ltd, India and Sidko Limited, Bangladesh installed several
Granular Ferric Hydroxide based arrsenic removal units in India and Bangladesh.
The Granular Ferric Hydroxide (AdsorpAs ) is arsenic selective adsorbent
developed by Technical University, Berlin, Germany. The unit requires iron
removal as pre-treatment to avoid clogging of filter bed. The proponents of the
unit claims to have very high arsenic removal capacity and produces non-toxic
spent granular ferric hydroxide.
Read-F Arsenic Removal Unit
Read-F is an adsorbent produced and promoted by Shin Nihon Salt Co. Ltd,
Japan for arsenic removal in Bangladesh. Read-F displays high selectivity for
arsenic ions under a broad range of conditions and effectively adsorbs both
arsenite and arsenate without the need for pretreatment. The Read-F is Ethylenevinyl alcohol copolymer(EVOH)-borne hydrous cerium oxide in which hydrous
cerium oxide ( CeO2 n H2O), is the adsorbent. The material contains no organic
solvent or other volatile substance and is not classified as hazardous material.
Laboratory test at BUET and field testing of the materials at 4 sites under the
supervision of BAMWSP showed that the adsorbent is highly efficient in
removing arsenic from groundwater (SNSCL, 2000).

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Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water

Iron Coated Sand

BUET has constructed and tested iron coated sand based small scale unit for the
removal of arsenic from groundwater. Iron coated sand has been prepared
following a procedure similar to that adopted by Joshi and Choudhuri ( 1996).
The iron content of the iron coated sand was found to be 25 mg/g of sand. Raw
water having 300 g/L of arsenic when filtered through iron coated sand
becomes essentially arsenic-free. It was found that 350 bed volumes could be
treated satisfying the Bangladesh drinking water standard of 50 ppb. The
saturated medium is regenerated by passing 0.2N sodium hydroxide through the
column or soaking the sand in 0.2N sodium hydroxide followed by washing with
distilled water. No significant change in bed volume (BV) in arsenic removal was
found after 5 regeneration cycles. It was interesting to note that iron coated sand
is equally effective in removing both As(III) and As(V). Iron coated brick dust
has also been developed in Bangladesh for arsenic removal from drinking water.
Indigenous Filters
There are several filters available in Bangladesh that use indigenous material as
arsenic adsorbent. Red soil rich in oxidized iron, clay minerals, iron ore, iron
scrap or fillings and processed cellulose materials are known to have capacity for
arsenic adsorption. Some of the filters manufactured using these materials
include:
Sono 3-Kolshi Filter
Granet Home-made Filter
Chari Filter
Adarsha Filter
Shafi Filter
Bijoypur Clay/Processed Cellulose filter
The Sono 3-Kolshi filter uses zero valent iron fillings and coarse sand in the
top Kolshi, wood coke and fine sand in the middle Kolshi while the bottom
Kolshi is the collector of the filtered water (Khan et al., 2000). Earlier Nikolaidis
and Lackovic (1998) showed that 97 % arsenic can be removed by adsorption on
a mixture of zero valent iron fillings and sand and recommended that arsenic
species could have been removed through formation of co-precipitates, mixed
precipitates and by adsorption onto the ferric hydroxide solids. The Sono 3Kolshi unit has been found to be very effective in removing arsenic but the media
habour growth of microorganism (BAMWSP, DFID and WaterAid, 2000). The
one-time use unit becomes quickly clogged, if groundwater contains excessive
iron.
The Garnet home-made filter contains relatively inert materials like brick
chips and sand as filtering media. No chemical is added to the system. Air
oxidation and adsorption on iron-rich brick chips and flocs of naturally present

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iron in groundwater could be the reason for arsenic removal from groundwater.
The unit produced inadequate quantity of water and did not show reliable results
in different areas of Bangladesh and under different operating conditions. The
Chari filter also uses brick chips and inert aggregates in different Charis as filter
media. The effectiveness of this filter in arsenic removal is not known.
The Shafi and Adarsh filters use clay material as filter media in the form of
candle. The Shafi filter was reported to have good arsenic removal capacity but
suffered from clogging of filter media. The Adarsha filter participated in the
rapid assessment program but failed to meet the technical criterion of reducing
arsenic to acceptable level (BAMWSP, DFID and WaterAid, 2000). Bijoypur
clay and treated cellulose were also found to adsorb arsenic from water (Khair,
2000).
Cartridge Filters
Filter units with cartridges filled with soptive media or ion-exchange resins are
readily available in the market. These unit remove arsenic like any other
dissolved ions present in water. These units are not suitable for water having high
impurities and iron in water. Presence of ions having higher affinity than arsenic
can quickly saturate the media requiring regeneration or replacement. Two
household filters were tested at BUET laboratories, These are:
Chiyoda Arsenic Removal Unit, Japan
Coolmart Water Purifier, Korea.
The Chiyoda Arsenic Removal Unit could treat 800 BV meeting the WHO
guideline value of 10 g/L and 1300 BV meeting the Bangladesh Standard of 50
g/L when the feed water arsenic concentration was 300 g/L. The Coolmart
Water Purifier could treat only 20 L of water with a effluent arsenic content of 25
g/L ( Ahmed et al., 2000). The initial and operation costs of these units are high
and beyond the reach of the rural people.

ION EXCHANGE
The process is similar to that of activated alumina, just the medium is a synthetic
resin of more well defined ion exchange capacity. The process is normally used
for removal of specific undesirable cation or anion from water. As the resin
becomes exhausted, it needs to be regenerated. The arsenic exchange and
regeneration equations with common salt solution as regeneration agent are as
follows:
Arsenic exchange
2R-Cl

HAsO4-- =

R2HAsO4 + 2Cl-

(10)

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Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water

Regeneration
R2HAsO4 + 2N+ + 2Cl- = 2R-Cl + HAsO4-- + 2Na+

(11)

Where R stands for ion exchange resin.

The arsenic removal capacity is dependent on sulfate and nitrate contents of
raw water as sulfate and nitrate are exchanged before arsenic. The ion exchange
process is less dependent on pH of water. The efficiency of ion exchange process
is radically improved by pre-oxidation of As(III) to As(V) but the excess of
oxidant often needs to be removed before the ion exchange in order to avoid the
damage of sensitive resins. Development of ion specific resin for exclusive
removal of arsenic can make the process very attractive.
Tetrahedron ion exchange resin filter tested under rapid assessment program
in Bangladesh (BAMWSP, DFID and WaterAid, 2000) showed promising results
in arsenic removal. The system needs pre-oxidation of arsenite by sodium
hypochloride. The residual chlorine helps to minimize bacterial growth in the
media. The saturated resin requires regeneration by recirculating NaCl solution.
The liquid wastes rich in salt and arsenic produced during regeneration require
special treatment. Some other ion exchange resins were demonstrated in
Bangladesh but sufficient field test results are not available on the performance
of those resins.

MEMBRANE TECHNIQUES
Membrane techniques like reverse osmosis, nanofiltration and electrodialysis are
capable of removing all kinds of dissolved solids including arsenic from water.
In this process water is allowed to pass through special filter media which
physically retain the impurities present in water. The water, for treatment by
membrane techniques, shall be free from suspended solids and the arsenic in
water shall be in pentavalent form. Most membranes, however, can not withstand
oxidizing agent.
MRT-1000 and Reid System Ltd.
Jago Corporation Limited promoted a household reverse osmosis water dispenser
MRT-1000 manufactured by B & T Science Co. Limited, Taiwan. This system
was tested at BUET and showed a arsenic (III) removal efficiency more than
80%. A wider spectrum reverse osmosis system named Reid System Limited was
also promoted in Bangladesh. Experimental results showed that the system could
effectively reduce arsenic content along with other impurities in water. The
capital and operational costs of the reverse osmosis system would be relatively
high.

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Low-pressure Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis

Oh et al.(2000) applied reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membrane processes
for the treatment of arsenic contaminated water applying low pressure by bicycle
pump. A nanofiltration membrane process coupled with a bicycle pump could be
operated under condition of low recovery and low pressure range from 0.2 to 0.7
MPa. Arsenite was found to have lower rejection than arsenate in ionized forms
and hence water containing higher arsenite requires pre-oxidation for reduction
of total arsenic acceptable level. In tubewell water in Bangladesh the average
ratio of arsenite to total arsenic was found to be 0.25. However, the reverse
osmosis process coupled with a bicycle pump system operating at 4 Mpa can be
used for arsenic removal because of its high arsenite rejection. The study
concluded that low-pressure nanofiltration with pre-oxidation or reverse osmosis
with a bicycle pump device could be used for the treatment of arsenic
contaminated groundwater in rural areas ( Oh et al., 2000).

DISCUSSIONS
A remarkable technological development in arsenic removal from rural water
supply based on conventional arsenic removal processes has been taken place
during last 2-3 years. A comparison of different arsenic removal processes is
shown in Table 1.
All the technologies described in this paper have their merits and demerits
and are being refined to make suitable in rural condition. The modifications
based on the pilot-scale implementation of the technologies are in progress with
the objectives to:
improve effectiveness in arsenic removal
reduce the capital and operation cost of the systems
make the technology user friendly
overcome maintenance problems
resolve sludge and arsenic concentrates management problems.
Arsenic removal technologies have to compete with other technologies in
which cost appears to a major determinant in the selection of a treatment option
by the users. The rural people habituated in drinking tubewell water may find
arsenic removal from tubewell water as a suitable option for water supply. In
many arsenic affected areas, arsenic removal may be the only option in the
absence of an alternative safe source of water supply.

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Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water

Table 1 : A comparison of main arsenic removal technologies

Technologies

Advantages

Disadvantages

Oxidation/
Precipitation
Air Oxidation

Relatively simple, lowcost but slow process

Relatively simple and
rapid process
Oxidizes other impurities
and kills microbes

The processes remove

only a part of arsenic

Relatively low capital

cost,
Relatively simple
operation
Common Chemicals
available

Produces toxic sludges

Low removal of As(III)
Pre-oxidation may be
required

Relatively well known

and commercially
available
Well defined technique
Plenty possibilities and
scope of development

Produces toxic solid

waste
Replacement/regeneratio
n required
High tech operation and
maintenance
Relatively high cost

Well defined and high

removal efficiency
No toxic solid wastes
produced
Capable of removal of
other contaminants

Chemical
oxidation

Coagulation
Coprecipitation :
Alum
Coagulation

Iron Coagulation

Sorption Techniques
Actvated
Alumina

Iron Coated Sand

Ion Exchange
Resin

Other Sorbents
Membrane
Techniques
Nanofiltration

Reverse osmosis

Electrodialysis

Very high capital and

running cost
High tech operation and
maintenance
Toxic wastewater
produced

A rapid assessment of 9 household level arsenic removal technologies has

been completed recently (BAMWSP, DFID and WaterAid, 2000). On the basis
of this study the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of Bangladesh Arsenic
Mitigation Water Supply Project (BAWSP) has recently recommended the

Ahmed : An Overview of Arsenic Removal Technologies in Bangladesh and India

267

following household arsenic removal technologies for experimental use in

arsenic affected areas:
Alcan Enhanced Activated Alumia
BUET Activated Alumina
Sono 3-Kolshi Method
Stevens Institute Technology
The widely used DPHE/Danida two buckets system and Tetrahedron ion
exchange resin filters will be reviewed when more information on performance
of the systems and its revised version are available. Few more technologies in
addition to technologies described in this paper are available for arsenic removal
at household and community levels. These technologies need evaluation in
respect of effectiveness in arsenic removal and community acceptance.

CONCLUSION
The technologies found effective and safe for arsenic removal from tubewell
water need promotion for wider implementation in the acute arsenic problem
areas to avoid ingestion of excessive arsenic through tubewell water. The arsenic
removal technologies are expected to improve further through adaptation in rural
environment.

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